Defence minister savages Jeremy Corbyn after his comments on Nato, saying he preferred to ‘collaborate with Russia’ than back UK troops
Mike Penning said the Labour leader's comments distancing himself from the Nato operation in Estonia showed the party couldn't be trusted with national security
DEFENCE Minister Mike Penning has launched a savage attack on Jeremy Corbyn after the Labour leader made clear his lack of support for a Nato mission in Eastern Europe.
The Minister for the Armed Forces accused him of preferring to collaborate with Russia than support our troops.
The arch-leftie's spokesperson said in a Westminster briefing yesterday that he had "concerns" that the new NATO mission was only escalating the stand-off with Moscow.
He added: “Jeremy has said repeatedly that he has lots of criticisms of the Russian government, both in relation to what has happened in the Middle East and domestically.
"But what we don’t want to see is a ratcheting up of tensions between Russia and the West, as has been taking place.”
Today Mr Penning said his comments were "unprecedented".
"Britain has NATO’s second biggest defence budget and plays a leading role in the Alliance," he said.
"It is unprecedented for a Leader of the Opposition to attack the defensive deployment of British troops on NATO territory. These comments suggest that the Labour Leader would rather collaborate with Russian aggression than mutually support Britain's NATO allies."
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He went on: "As with Trident, everything Labour says and does shows that they cannot be trusted with Britain's national security."
Labour's Shadow Defence Secretary was said to be "absolutely livid" last night after the comments emerged.
Nia Griffith was furious when the leader's spokesperson refused to back NATO intervention in the case of an attack by Russia as splits within the party over defence policy were laid bare.
The spokesman also appeared to suggest that Mr Corbyn would not back a military response by NATO if the Russians invaded Estonia – where UK troops are currently stationed to try and keep the peace.
They said: "Article 5 [of the Nato treaty] means that if there is an attack on another Nato state there has to be a response by Nato members – it doesn’t define what that response should be."
No.10 had earlier launched an outspoken attack on Vladimir Putin’s record in office. On Tuesday, Boris Johnson had separately accused Moscow of conducting “dirty tricks” against Britain and America.
Sources close to the Shadow Defence Secretary said she was fuming at the Labour leader's intervention.
Ms Griffith has said that support for Nato was a "red line" for her, but that she would not be considering her position in the Shadow Cabinet.
She has been out to visit British troops in Estonia and expressed her support for the policy.
She told Forces TV: "I think it's very important for NATO to be absolutely clear... we are standing together as NATO nations and there is no way that we would tolerate any attack on any one of our member states."
It's far from the first time that Mr Corbyn has disagreed with his shadow ministers over key policies.
After she was elected Ms Griffith said the party would stick to its promises to back the renewal of nuclear weapons system Trident, despite the leader's staunch opposition to it.
